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Abstract
On an average weekday, Chicago’s trains and buses provide over 750,000 rides. The city’s public transit system is its single most effective climate solution, displacing rides and emissions from automobiles. Public transportation also provides key access to jobs, education, and healthcare, which is especially important for low-income communities with fewer car owners. In 2020, researchers found that a unit increase in the percent of low-income residents corresponds to a decrease in average accessibility to jobs by 11,021 units. But the CTA underserves the South Side, continuing a history of underinvestment. Chicago has yet to realize an accessible, equitable, and sustainable transportation system. Currently, the CTA faces an existential budget deficit, with a predicted deficit of 771 million dollars for the 2026 fiscal year. The city is legally required to make back 50% of its budget from fares, which is an unattainable threshold. We recommend that the city remove this requirement and develop other funding sources to not only solve the CTA’s budgetary challenges, but also allow the CTA to invest in itself. We recommend that the Illinois State government “flex,” or redirect, some of its federal highway funding toward public transportation. The city has already taken advantage of this strategy to fund station improvements and other projects, but Illinois still flexes significantly less of its funding than comparable states. We additionally propose a congestion pricing scheme modelled on New York City’s successful policy. The most aggressive congestion zone would raise 750 million dollars a year while only charging a third of New York’s fare. In addition, Chicago’s transit system is structurally inefficient. Multiple transit agencies operate in the Chicago area, resulting in miscommunication. By either creating an RTA executive board or merging the transit agencies into one entity, Chicago can minimize the operational and structural inefficiencies its transit system currently faces. We also propose that the CTA optimize its bus routes and transit pricing schemes to improve ridership without needing to invest in new infrastructure. By designing routes and schedules for optimal use and adjusting prices, the CTA can boost ridership and avoid the cycle of decreased use and disinvestment. Long-term, we suggest that the city focus on transit-oriented design (TOD) by rezoning areas around transit stops for dense mixed-use development. The North Side is already densely developed around transit, with neighborhoods like Wicker Park boasting apartments, shopping, and amenities closely packed around its Blue Line stop. In contrast, sprawl surrounds stops on the South Side. Vacant lots and an expressway abut the Garfield Green Line station, for example, leaving untapped potential for new dense mixed-use projects. The CTA is a vital resource for making Chicago the most livable, equitable, and sustainable city it can be. In this report, we present a toolkit for confronting the challenges facing the CTA to build a robust future.